General Dan Caine has responded to a Democrat lawmaker’s inquiry whether U.S. troops will be deployed to the polls during the upcoming midterms.
Democrat Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan recently wrote a letter to General Caine asking him whether the Pentagon plans to deploy troops to the polls this November.
Caine stated, “The Joint Force has no plans to send Federal military personnel or Federalized members of the National Guard to polling places during the 2026 elections.”
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff added that he does not anticipate to receive any such order.
Per AP:
The highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military says there are no plans to send troops to polling places during November’s midterm congressional elections, addressing concerns among Democrats that the Trump administration could use the military to interfere with the vote.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the statement in a letter to Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who recently asked Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to confirm they won’t send troops to the polls.
“The Joint Force has no plans to send Federal military personnel or Federalized members of the National Guard to polling places during the 2026 elections,” Caine said in the letter to Slotkin, which was obtained Monday by The Associated Press. “Likewise, the Joint Force has no plans to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related material.”
Caine, who advises Hegseth and President Donald Trump on military matters, also wrote: “I have neither received nor anticipate receiving any unlawful order concerning the role of the Joint Force in the upcoming November 2026 midterm elections.”
Federal law prevents U.S. troops from being deployed at polling stations unless they are ordered to the polls “to repel armed enemies of the United States.”
The Justice Department, however, is deploying federal election monitors.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon revealed the DOJ plans to send a record 1,000 federal election monitors to polling stations across the country.
WATCH:
BREAKING: Harmeet Dhillon said in an interview with Bloomberg News that the DOJ will be sending 1,000 election monitors to polling locations for the midterms.
“[The DOJ] has sent monitors to election hot spots, polling places to increase voter confidence to troubleshoot problems… pic.twitter.com/IKLW3Z7oIC
— Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) August 17, 2026
The number of federal monitors is a stark contrast to the Biden DOJ who sent only 289 federal monitors during the 2022 midterms.
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